Humor Me
by goshinote
Summary: After a funny evening that left everyone laughing except for our favorite hanyo, the other shard hunters realize that they've never heard Inuyasha laugh. After a visit to the future side of the well, Inuyasha and Kagome try to find some inspiration...but they wind up finding a little more than just that. Complete!


Hi, darlings! The idea for this little one-shot came to me after I saw one or two fics that addressed the same theme. Although I say this, this story is completely original and does not involve events from other fics. Just putting that out there :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. All rights to Rumiko Takahashi.

 _Humor Me_

The sound of laughter broke the silence of the night.

"Tell that one again, Kagome!" Shippo shrieked through a fit of giggles.

Kagome wiped tears of mirth from her eyes as she looked down at the joke book in her lap. They'd been looking at the book for about an hour, and Shippo, Miroku, Sango, and Kagome were all in stitches over the jokes.

"Okay," Kagome began. "What do you call two fleas on top of a bald head?" A silent pause ensued, with a quiet stifled snort from Shippo.

"Homeless!" Kagome exclaimed. The rest of the group dissolved into laughter again.

The only quiet one was Inuyasha.

Through her round of giggles, Kagome saw Inuyasha in her peripheral vision. He had a deep frown on his face and hadn't laughed at any of the jokes.

"Oh, come on, Inuyasha," she chided happily. "Don't you think that's funny?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Keh!" he scoffed. "As if I would laugh at something like that." Kagome's smile faltered a bit.

"Inuyasha," Shippo said, speaking up. "Do you _ever_ laugh?" Inuyasha stiffened.  
"What kind of a stupid question is that, idiot?" he defended. "Of course I laugh." Sango and Miroku had gone quiet at Shippo's words.

"Actually," Sango cut in, "I don't think I've ever seen you laugh." Miroku nodded.

"Neither have I," he added.

Kagome felt three sets of eyes on her. She figured it was to be expected; she was the one that had known Inuyasha the longest.

"Have you ever seen Inuyasha laugh?" Shippo asked her. Kagome paused and looked at Inuyasha, whose cheeks had turned red. She couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or anger.

In all honesty, Kagome couldn't recall a time she'd seen Inuyasha laugh. Sure, he'd chuckled at the sight of an enemy fall or at the sight of Sango slapping Miroku after he groped her rear.

But Kagome knew she had never seen Inuyasha actually _laugh_.

From the look on said hanyo's face, she knew he wouldn't appreciate her admitting that.

"Uh…sure, I have," Kagome lied. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo looked shocked.

"Really?" Shippo asked, mystified. "What was he laughing at?" Kagome froze. Without even looking, she knew Inuyasha had, too.

"I can't remember," Kagome replied. "He's laughed at so many things. It's hard to keep track of it all." Glancing at Inuyasha, she saw that all the embarrassment was gone from his face. Now he was just annoyed. She shot him a Look that very obviously said _Just go with it…_

"He's laughed more than once?" Sango asked in disbelief. Shippo practically bounced with excitement.

"What's something he laughed at?" he asked animatedly. Kagome grinned.

"There's a lot of weird stuff in my time," Kagome replied. "Inuyasha mostly laughs there. There are some funny differences between here and where I'm from. It would be too hard to explain the humor to you guys without actually seeing it." Shippo looked disappointed.

"Oh," he said, deflated. "Then that means we won't get to see him laugh." Kagome smiled.

"You never know," she replied. "Something here might make him laugh…eventually." She looked back at Inuyasha and saw a relieved look briefly come to his face before it morphed back into his usual frown. Kagome picked her joke book back up and began reading again.

It wasn't until Kagome was near the end of the book and Shippo began yawning that they decided to try and get some rest.

Inuyasha leaned against the trunk of a tree a few feet away from the others. Kagome glanced at him as she got into her sleeping bag.

 _He looks lost in thought,_ she realized silently. _I wonder if he's thinking about what we all said._

As she lay on her back with her gaze turned upward toward the starry sky, she sighed.

 _I just want him to be happy…_

That was her last thought before she fell asleep.

O.o.O.o.O

Kagome woke up to a soft tap against her cheek. Opening her eyes sleepily, she saw that she was face-to-face with Inuyasha. His face was outlined by a barely lit sky; it wasn't quite dawn.

"Are you awake?" he whispered. Kagome gently pushed him to the side and sat up with a yawn.

"I am now," she replied. "What's wrong?" Inuyasha paused.

"I just thought maybe you would want to go home this morning," he said. Kagome's eyes narrowed.

"Uh, why?" she asked, immediately suspicious. Inuyasha frowned.

"Keh," he replied defensively. "I'm just trying to be a nice person and let you see your family. Is that so hard to believe?" Kagome just looked at him. Confusion filled her, but she only shrugged.

"Okay," she agreed. "I would love to go home and go to school." Inuyasha grimaced but soon nodded.

As Kagome grabbed her backpack, Inuyasha stood up and walked over to Miroku.

"Yo, monk," he said, shaking Miroku none too gently. "Wake up." Miroku's eyes opened and he frowned.  
"Inuyasha, it's still dark," he chided. "What's going on?" Inuyasha scoffed.

"Lazy," he commented. "I'm taking Kagome home. We'll be back in a few days."

Kagome's eyes widened. _A few_ days _? Since when is Inuyasha that generous with time?_

Miroku nodded and closed his eyes again. "Have fun."

Inuyasha turned to Kagome and silently leaned down so she could get on his back.

The run to the well lasted for nearly an hour, and Inuyasha was silent the whole time. Kagome wasn't sure what had gotten into him; either way, it concerned her.

"Let's go," Inuyasha said when they reached the well. Without waiting for a reaction from Kagome, he jumped in and they quickly crossed to the other side.

Kagome smiled when they exited the well house. She loved traveling with Inuyasha and the others, but she did miss her family. She couldn't wait to see everyone.

Looking around, she saw the sun rising and yawned. _Did Inuyasha have to wake me up so early?_ she wondered to herself.

"Go on," Inuyasha ordered gruffly. "Get ready for…school." Kagome, mystified, only nodded and walked into her house.

"Everyone is asleep," Inuyasha said after a quiet moment of listening. Kagome silently led him inside and up to her room.

Grabbing her towel and clothes, Kagome smiled. "I'm gonna take a shower," she informed Inuyasha. "I'll be back soon."

"Keh," was his only answer.

The shower felt glorious on Kagome's aching muscles. During her time in the Feudal Era, her body had become fairly resilient and strong. Despite that, she couldn't always escape the soreness in her limbs from all the walking or fighting.

After her shower, Kagome got dressed, brushed her teeth, and combed her hair. Deeming herself presentable, she went back to her room to fetch Inuyasha. The sun had completely risen, so Kagome figured her family would all be awake.

"Let's go get breakfast," she said to Inuyasha as she peeked her head into her bedroom.

At the sound of her voice, Inuyasha jumped and appeared to hide something behind his back. Donning a face of feigned innocence, he nodded and stood up.

Kagome decided not to comment on his odd behavior; instead, she walked out of the room and headed down the stairs.

"Hi, Mom!" she greeted when she walked into the kitchen. Her mother's face brightened into a smile.

"Hello, dear," she replied warmly. "And hello, Inuyasha."

"Hey," the hanyo replied.

"I'm almost finished with breakfast," Kagome's mother said. "Only about five more minutes and then you all can eat."

"Inu-no-ni-chan!"

Kagome saw Inuyasha's ears perk up slightly at the sight and sound of her little brother. As much as he denied it, Kagome knew he had a soft spot for Sota.

"Hey, kid," Inuyasha replied. Sota ran over to him and smiled brightly.

"Have you killed any big yokai lately?" he asked excitedly. Inuyasha scoffed.

"Keh," he replied. "I kill big yokai every day." Sota's eyes widened.

"Whoa," the young boy breathed.

Kagome laughed. "Alright, Sota," she teased. "Don't make Inuyasha's head too big." Inuyasha turned to her, a look of confusion having come to his face.

"How would he make my head big?" he asked in all seriousness. Kagome and Sota laughed.

"It's just a silly expression, Inuyasha," Kagome explained. "It means we don't want you to get too confident from all of Sota's compliments." Inuyasha stared at her for a moment.

And then he…honked?

Kagome and Sota's laughter ended abruptly.

Inuyasha's cheeks turned bright red at the silence. Per usual, he shoved his hands in the sleeves of his haori.

"Enough messing around," Inuyasha commanded gruffly. "Just hurry up and eat."

Still completely caught off-guard by the weird noise Inuyasha had made, Kagome only nodded and sat down at the table.

She patted the chair next to her in invitation for Inuyasha, but he turned away.

"I'm going outside," he muttered.

Then he walked out of the house.

"That was weird," Sota commented as soon as Inuyasha was gone.

"Inuyasha isn't weird, Sota," Kagome scolded. "But…that sound kinda was." Sota looked pensive.

"Maybe it's some sort of inu-yokai thing?" he suggested. He chuckled. "Or maybe that was just his laugh." Kagome's eyes widened.

 _His laugh…_

Knowing fully well that Inuyasha's laugh was _not_ a duck-like honk, the only conclusion Kagome could reach was that Inuyasha had forced a laugh at the funny explanation.

 _But why?_

"Is something wrong, dear?" Kagome's mother asked, immediately picking up on her change in demeanor. Kagome shook her head.

"No," she replied. "Just…thinking."

After she had finished eating, she went outside to find Inuyasha. Without even needing to look, she found him in the Goshinboku.

"Hey," she called up. "I'm leaving." Inuyasha peered down at her before jumping to the ground.

"Okay," he replied. "I'll walk you there. Let's go." Kagome was confused.

"You're coming with me?" she asked. "Why?" Inuyasha frowned.

"I have to have a reason for walking you to school?" he countered. Kagome shrugged.

"No," she replied. "It's just not what you usually do so I was confused." Inuyasha scoffed.

"Keh," he muttered. "Whatever."

The walk to Kagome's school was relatively quiet. Inuyasha seemed deep in thought, and Kagome wondered if it had anything to do with his "laugh" this morning.

"Inuyasha," she began carefully. "Are you alright?" Inuyasha frowned at her.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked. Kagome shrugged.

"You just seem weird today," she replied. "Like, a little…off." Inuyasha shrugged.

"You're imagining things, woman," he said.

And that was it.

Until they saw a mother walking with her daughter across the street from them.

They were walking hand-in-hand until the daughter tripped on the sidewalk and fell to her knees. She began to cry, but her mother quickly bent down to help her up.

After what Kagome assumed were a few comforting and uplifting words, the little girl and her mother began to laugh.

Kagome felt Inuyasha freeze next to her, and then he honked again.

Kagome jumped at the sudden noise and turned to face Inuyasha.

"Alright," she exclaimed as she grabbed his arm to stop him. "What is that noise?" Inuyasha looked mortified.

"Uh, well, those people were laughing, so that meant whatever they said was…funny…so…" he trailed off. Kagome looked into his eyes.

"So you were laughing?" she asked. Inuyasha broke the eye contact.

"I was…uh, yeah," he stuttered.

Kagome was inclined to believe him, but something seemed so _off_ about him.

"Okay," she finally conceded. "I'm happy you found something funny." She expected him to scoff, but silence was her only answer.

Something was definitely going on with him.

O.o.O.o.O

Over the next two days, Inuyasha did the same thing. Something would happen, and he would randomly make that weird honking noise. Kagome tried her best to not say anything about it, but it seemed so forced and weird that it was getting harder to just go with it.

On the third night they were in her time, Kagome was doing her best to catch up on the homework she'd missed. Everything she'd learned in school over the last three days was a blur, so she knew she needed to work ridiculously hard to try and catch up.

After roughly an hour of doing homework at her desk, Kagome yawned and stretched. She turned around to look at Inuyasha, whom was sitting on her bed and staring off into space.

"Inuyasha?" she said gently, bringing the hanyo's attention to her. "Are you okay?" Inuyasha frowned.

"Of course I'm okay," he replied. He looked around Kagome's desk for a second before getting up and walking over to pick up her pencil.

"So we have brushes and ink on the other side of the well," he commented. "What do you call this thing?" Kagome raised her eyebrows.

"That's a pencil."

Then came the honking sound again and Kagome's patience ran out.

" _Inuyasha!_ " Kagome screeched. "What is that noise? I know that is _not_ you laughing, so what the heck is it?!"

Inuyasha dropped the pencil and frowned.

"Keh!" he shouted. "As if you would know anything! According to you guys, I've never laughed so how would you even know what it would or wouldn't sound like?"

 _Ah. There it is._

Kagome calmed down immediately as realization dawned on her.

"Were your feelings hurt by what we said last night?" she asked gently. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and went back to sit on her bed.

"Keh," he scoffed half-heartedly. "As if you pesky humans and stupid Shippo could hurt my feelings." Kagome, knowing him better than anyone else, saw right through him.

She got up and moved over so she could join him on the bed where he was staring down at his lap. After she was comfortably sitting beside him, she spoke.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha," she apologized sincerely. "I'm sorry about what we said. Maybe…maybe we went too far." She leaned forward to try and catch his gaze.

"So…what was that noise you were making?" she asked. "Was that…a fake laugh or something?" Inuyasha shrugged.

"Not like it matters," he replied. "I just…you said last night that there were funny things here, so I thought if we came back, maybe…" Kagome nodded.

"Maybe you would find something to make you laugh," she finished for him. Inuyasha nodded grimly.

"Doesn't matter," he said. "It's not like it worked." Kagome smiled.

"That's because you can't force something funny to happen," she explained kindly. "You just have to let it happen." Inuyasha finally looked up and met Kagome's eyes.

"But you laugh all the time," he countered with a frown. "So do Shippo and Miroku and Sango. You and Sota were laughing this morning about something that didn't even make any sense." Kagome reached out and took his hand.

"Inuyasha," she began, "not everyone is going to think the same things are funny. That's normal. I don't always think that some stuff Sota says is funny. Sometimes I just think stuff he says and laughs at is stupid. It's okay to not find something funny even though other people do."

Inuyasha sighed.

"But even when I think something if funny, I just…can't laugh," he said. That broke Kagome's heart. "I was even looking through that stupid 'joking' book this morning while you were in the shower because I wanted to find at least one thing that could make me laugh."

Kagome squeezed his hand. "It's okay," she comforted. "And you find things funny! Like when Sango slaps Miroku, or when you punch Shippo…I don't commend that one, though." Inuyasha's mouth twitched into an almost smile.

"Yeah…" he finally replied. "That stuff is pretty funny. But it doesn't make me laugh." Kagome stood up and tugged on his hand.

"Don't force it," she encouraged. "Let it happen. Now let's get a snack, okay?" Inuyasha nodded and followed Kagome to the kitchen.

After she'd made some ramen for Inuyasha, she got an idea.

"How about we watch a movie?" she suggested. "You remember those? We watch them on the television." Inuyasha nodded.

"I guess," he replied. Kagome smiled.

"We can turn on a funny one," she said. "We'll see if we can get you laughing _for real_." Inuyasha looked determined as he followed Kagome into the living room.

She turned on the funniest movie she could find and pressed play.

Kagome laughed fairly continuously throughout the movie, but Inuyasha remained silent. She glanced at him and patted his hand.

"Anything funny yet?" she asked. Inuyasha shrugged.

"Yeah," he admitted. "But…no laugh." Inuyasha turned to her with wide eyes. "Do you think there's something wrong with me? Maybe I just _can't_ laugh." Kagome shook her head.

"No way," she replied. "I know you can laugh. You chuckle sometimes, so obviously it's possible for you." With a sigh, Kagome turned to him.

"I should go finish my homework," she said wearily. "Do you want to finish watching the movie down here while I go upstairs?" Inuyasha shook his head.

"I'll just come up with you," he replied.

Kagome turned the movie off and walked back upstairs to her room.

As Inuyasha sat down on her bed and she took her seat in the chair, an idea came to her.

She stood back up and sat down on the bed next to Inuyasha. Taking his hand and leaning close to him, she drew his attention to her.

"Inuyasha?" she said. The hanyo's eyes widened at her proximity.

"What are you doing?" he asked in surprise. But he didn't move away.

Kagome squeezed his hand and smiled. "I'm just happy you're here," she replied. Inuyasha peered at her as she leaned closer.

His eyes glanced at her lips before moving back up to meet her eyes. He tilted his head down as if he were going to…

"TICKLE FIGHT!" Kagome shouted.

She pounced on Inuyasha and began tickling him on his stomach and his sides. Inuyasha began shouting in protest until Kagome found a spot right below his ribcage.

It started slowly. His face broke out into a smile. With his eyes squeezed shut, he began to laugh.

To Kagome, it was the most beautiful sound she'd ever heard.

It was quiet at first, but it soon turned into loud bursts of pleasant noise. She'd expect his laugh to be gruff and barky (no pun intended).

But instead, it was boyish and innocent. It sounded like the laugh of a child.

Her fingers stilled on his sides as she looked down at him in wonder. His peals of laughter soon subsided when Kagome stopped tickling him. Looking up at her, he smiled.

"Hey," he said. "You made me laugh."

Then Inuyasha was leaning up and Kagome was leaning down as they met in a kiss as innocent as Inuyasha's laugh.

After a moment, Kagome pulled away slightly. "You have a really nice laugh," she murmured. Inuyasha kissed her again briefly before looking back up at her.

"Do you?" he asked. Kagome leaned up a little and peered at him.

"Do I what?" she asked. A devilish look came onto Inuyasha's face.

"Do you have a nice laugh?"

Then he was flipping Kagome as his hands came to tickle her much like she had him. Her own laughter rang out, and soon Inuyasha joined her.

Neither of the two knew it, but Kagome's mother heard the combined laughter from her seat in the kitchen. She smiled, knowing the happiness that radiated from the pair and the changes she'd seen in both of them.

Most of all, she was reminded of what she'd felt with Kagome's father when they were young. They'd argued and laughed much like Kagome and Inuyasha did.

 _It must be a good omen,_ she thought to herself.

O.o.O.o.O

The next day, Kagome could tell that Inuyasha was itching to get back to the Feudal Era.

"We can leave after I get home from school," she said. Inuyasha didn't look pleased, but she could tell that he was still on a happy high from last night, so he only nodded.

After a brief moment's hesitation, she leaned up and kissed his cheek.

Before she could pull completely away, Inuyasha tugged her back and planted a quick kiss on her lips. Kagome's eyes widened in surprise, but Inuyasha just shrugged.

"Keh," he scoffed. "You did it to me last night. Shouldn't I be able to do it to you?"

Kagome laughed patted his arm. "Whenever you want."

With one last look at Inuyasha, she turned around and headed down the shrine steps.

Inuyasha watched her as she walked away with a smile on his face.

 _Mother would have loved her,_ he thought to himself. _Mother was the only one that could make me laugh before Kagome…_

With a quiet chuckle, Inuyasha turned around and went back into the house.

 _I love Kagome,_ he thought. _And she'll stay by my side…making me laugh._

Inuyasha didn't need a joke book, so long as he had Kagome.

And he would have her forever.

FIN.

I hope you all enjoyed! I got this idea and had to write it as soon as I got the inspiration. I'm also working on Chapter 29 of How Far We've Come, and it's almost finished so I'll post it in the next few days!

Much love. :)


End file.
